Tenets of Tae Kwon Do


Tae Kwon Do aims to achieve the following tenets:

Yelu – Courtesy

  • Promote the spirit of mutual concessions
  • Be ashamed of one’s vices
  • Be polite to one another
  • Encourage a sense of justice
  • Distinguish instructor from student and senior from junior

Yom Chi – Integrity

  • Being able to define right from wrong
  • Have the conscience, if wrong, to feel guilt

Im Nae – Perseverance

  • Patience lead to virtue and merit
  • A serious student must learn not to be impatient, to continue steadfastly, to persevere

Guk Gi – Self Control

  • Whether during free sparring in the Do-Jang or in personal affairs self control extremely important
  • A loss of self-control can prove disastrous to both student and opponent
  • An inability to work within one’s capability also shows a lack of self-control

Baekjul Boolgool – Indomitable Spirit

  • A serious student will at all times be modest and honest
  • If confronted with injustice, he will deal with the belligerent without fear or hesitation and with indomitable spirit regardless of whomever or however many the number may be